Vacuum sealed freezer bags loosing seal

kc34

kc34

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Anyone else have this issue with vacuum sealed freezer bags losing their seal and not being tightly compressed anymore?

My share of a bull elk that my hunting buddy got last fall was all vacuumed sealed and looked just fine at the time when I got it but now I've noticed that some of the bags have come loose and appear to of lost their vacuum seal.
I think he used a new Cabelas vacuum unit but frankly I am unfamiliar with these sealers as I still wrap my deer meat in saran wrap and freezer paper! Yes, its old school but it works just fine and I don't get any freezer burned meat either.

I did a Google search and I guess it's not uncommon for this to happen to home vacuumed sealed stuff as the devices are not as powerful as commercial grade units and as well the proper care and technique probably isn't always used when packaging the meat.

What is your experience with vacuumed sealed game meat?
 
I use the Cabela's commerical 12" unit & plastic bags & IMHO found a distinct drop in quality once they got taken over by BP.

I think the fault lies in the bag & not the vaccuum unit.

I use the extended seal option & in the last 2 years I've experience the same as you - in some cases the bags seem to delaminate between the layers of plastic. Its frustrating to say the least.

Looking into a commercial unit for the upcoming season.

Ryan
 
Get a proper vac bagger. VacMaster 215. Commercial bags are way cheaper. 1000 for $65. Tons of sizes and thicknesses. I went through a few food savers. Finally went to the VacMaster and never had a issue of losing seals anymore. The price is considerably higher up front. But once you go through a food saver or three and the price of the bags. It isn't much different.
 
I have many years using commercial units on thousands of products .... seals break ... even seals from industrial food processors break. It’s usually the bag ... it just needs a tiny pinhole prick to fail and might even be not visible to the eye. Also, some care needs to be taken where you make the seal .. there can’t be any overlap or folds in the plastic or it will leak. The seal shouldn’t have a mile of plastic on the loose end and the bags should be very straight. Cut the bags shorter, if the ends are too long. Likewise, it shouldn’t be too short after the seal ... a couple inches is ideal.

Some items have more pockets of air in them like stews and they will fail more often. Don’t have a giant mess of stuff on one side and then ten feet of plastic on the other side .... even giant commercial units can only suck out so much air from so far away between bits of meat with air pockets. Consider making smaller bags of items like stew and ground meats or items full of liquids/marinades.

Use quality bags.

Be careful with items with sharp bones like ribs or t-bones ... these will likely fail at some point .. a soaker pad over where the bones protrude might help.

Use all the failed bags first. I rotate products based on date and use blown packages first.

Use a decent machine ... some are very weak.

Vacuum packers work very well .... that’s why the meat industry uses them so extensively and even fresh meat products are widely vacuum sealed rather than being wrapped on styrofoam.
 
RePete said:
I've had them and found that they are a waste of time. Leaked.

Got rid of them and now use butchers paper and tape.
Click to expand...

Yep. For the price and the headaches, not worth the investment.

My butcher uses a wrap of plastic cling type film, then paper wraps. I have found that it works well, with no freezer burn on 3+ years old meats in my freezer.
 
Grizzly Adams said:
I've always ben concerned about fluid or moisture being trapped in the sealing band ? :confused:

Grizz
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Do you use a sealer? If so, try taking a folded paper towel and put that near the seal. The paper towel will catch the liquid, avoiding any liquid getting into the seal from the vacuum pulling on it.

I have a Food Saver, but I don't use it much. Haven't had any issues with it, but most stuff in my freezer doesn't last long enough to bother with it. Like others, my game meat gets wrapped in cling wrap and then butcher paper normally, while anything from the grocery store that I freeze (say, pork loin or chicken from Costco) just goes into Presidents Choice ziplock bags because they're cheap and easy.
 
I dont use a vacuum sealer but here is the way I do it and find the meat is as fresh as the day I put it in the freezer even a year later..... I wrap my meat in saran wrap about a dozen raps while squeezing out all the air.... So basically, place the meat on the saran wrap, rap it around a few times, squeeze the air out, saran wrap a few more times then into the freezer bag it goes. Squeeze out as much air out of the freezer bag as you can too, this leads to no more freezer burn and well preserved frozen meat that lasts well over a year.....
Vacuum sealers and their bags are just too expensive, saran wrap and freezer bags, work excellent and are way cheaper...
 
Thanks for all the detailed responses folks, much appreciated!


fratri said:
I dont use a vacuum sealer but here is the way I do it and find the meat is as fresh as the day I put it in the freezer even a year later..... I wrap my meat in saran wrap about a dozen raps while squeezing out all the air.... So basically, place the meat on the saran wrap, rap it around a few times, squeeze the air out, saran wrap a few more times then into the freezer bag it goes. Squeeze out as much air out of the freezer bag as you can too, this leads to no more freezer burn and well preserved frozen meat that lasts well over a year.....
Vacuum sealers and their bags are just too expensive, saran wrap and freezer bags, work excellent and are way cheaper...
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with this point of view. No point in me buying a cheap vacuum sealer that doesn`t work well and I`m too tight to buy a really expensive good quality one so I guess I will stick with cling wrap and butchers paper for now which, as you say, works great. Honestly I don`t think I would really use it that much besides doing my one deer in the fall.
 
One gal I know wraps the good cuts three times.
I forget the first two, plastic bag, wrap in shrink wrap and the
final is the proper brown freezer paper.
Lasts a couple of seasons this way.

Styrofoam with the plastic front will last three months
and then freezer burn starts in.

BYMMV
 
I've tried an industrial sealer. Every once and a while I loose a seal but plastic wrap and butcher paper IMO is better for long storage. Plastic bags will freeze together if they get any moisture on em. Paper is better for preventing freezer burn
 
Plastic wrap and butcher paper is what we normally use, and have eaten beef that's been in the freezer 3 or 4 years with no issues. Vaccum bagging stuff seems to be too fragile, nothing to protect the plastic from getting tiny holes and leaking. Still have to be careful with stuff, but the paper helps protect the plastic wrap from being damaged.
Kristian
 
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